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IH 656 Row Crop Hydro - A good tractor to purchase??

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Lance_MF_180

09-13-2007 12:20:56

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I found a couple of 656 Row crop Hydros. Was wondering if anyone has any expierence with the IH hydro. Good tractors or are the Hydro's troublesome?? I have an Uncle that is looking to upgrade from a 400 IH to something a little bigger.
Thanks
Lance

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Hugh MacKay

09-14-2007 03:13:49

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Re: IH 656 Row Crop Hydro - A good tractor to purchase?? in reply to Lance_MF_180, 09-13-2007 12:20:56

Lance: I looked at Hydro 40 years ago when they were new. Even way back then IH only claimed they were economical for precise work requiring infinate variable speeds. Vegetable harvesting was the reason for the the development. Loader work and baling are not precission work.

These are now 40 years old, probably one of the most expensive tractor transmissions to rebuild in history. They are poor on heavy draft work. I wouldn't touch one, unless I needed an engine, wheels or a wide front. That is about their value, unless you intend to do nothing more than look at it, and have deep pockets.

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JMILL

09-13-2007 21:04:46

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Re: IH 656 Row Crop Hydro - A good tractor to purchase?? in reply to Lance_MF_180, 09-13-2007 12:20:56

As everyone has said the Hydro will not have the pulling power of a standard tranny however I would not worry about the gas engine. My 656 is at 11000 hours on the gas, uses very little oil, starts great and runs out great, compression is getting bad and it probably is only putting out 55ish hp instead of closer to 65. Gas consumption really isn't that bad either.

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Lee in Iowa

09-13-2007 20:23:18

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Re: IH 656 Row Crop Hydro - A good tractor to purchase?? in reply to Lance_MF_180, 09-13-2007 12:20:56

My dad helped our neighbor mount and set a front mount cultivator on his new 656 gas hydro. He said between the heat from the gas engine in front and the hydro underneath he was just about cooked in a half hour. Lee

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Brooks McCormick

09-13-2007 16:48:55

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Re: IH 656 Row Crop Hydro - A good tractor to purchase?? in reply to Lance_MF_180, 09-13-2007 12:20:56

Good tractor for very light tillage work or using in a hay field, put it under a heavy load for any period of time and get your checkbook out, rebuilt hydro's are NOT cheap.

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Bill in IL

09-13-2007 13:21:31

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Re: IH 656 Row Crop Hydro - A good tractor to purchase?? in reply to Lance_MF_180, 09-13-2007 12:20:56

We used to have a 544 hydro loader tractor on the dairy I worked at. It was a great loader tractor cause of the hydro. It was bought new in 68 or 9 and took 30 years of daily use but the hydro did wear out. It would have took a lot to have it rebuilt so it was retired. I would recommend one for utility work but not for heavy use like pulling a plow. Beware the hydro will rob power from the tractor due to the ineffiency of a hydrostatic transmission.

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chadd

09-13-2007 13:21:11

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Re: IH 656 Row Crop Hydro - A good tractor to purchase?? in reply to Lance_MF_180, 09-13-2007 12:20:56

We had a 656 Hydro gas. I really liked it, but it did have its downfalls. First off, it was terrible for tillage work. If you are planning on pulling a 4 bottom plow with it regularly, expect an expensive repair bill. Second, expect to have roughly 70 to 80 percent of the horsepower of a gear drive 656 due to losses in the hydrostatics. Third, if it is gas, expect to spend a lot on fuel. Our 105 hp 806 diesel uses about 1/2 to 3/4 as much fuel as our 656 gas did. Now for the positives. It was the most accurate spaying tractor we ever had. It gave our old pull behind sprayer the same accuracy as one of those new spraying rigs because you could set the groundspeed and rpm independently of each other. It worked well for moving round bales in the fields and loading type work because you didn't have to use a clutch. It is also easy to drive for inexperienced operators. You could match rpm to load like no other tractor with the infintely variable speeds.
I would recommend that you try to find a diesel model, and be sure to change the hytran EVERY year. We had ours 15 years, and the gas engine had 2 complete overhauls and was knocking like crazy when it left. The boost pump on ours failed and the cost of that repair is what ended its life. No one was interested in buying it, and we couldn't afford to fix it, so we sold it for junk value to a junkyard.

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Robert Searcy

09-13-2007 12:59:40

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Re: IH 656 Row Crop Hydro - A good tractor to purchase?? in reply to Lance_MF_180, 09-13-2007 12:20:56

I have never owned one personally but I have heard good things from those I have asked about. They are more expensive to repair as with any Hydro but they worked good from what I know of them. They make great loader tractors. I prefer a wide front for most of my stuff however for mowing in and around trees and doing things in tight places i get on my JD A or B rather than on my WF 560D.

I love my 560 D for everything else though. IT has been a wonderful tractor. I mowed a little over 5 acres with it last night with a 7 foot Brush Hog through chest high Ragweed with a Fescue undergrowth that had not been touched this year, it was thick!!! I wore a respirator as that Ragweed dust tears me up. The 560 didnt seem to sneeze once.

WOT in 3rh gear on the high side T/A. Only took me about an hour and 15 mins to cut it.

I was pleased, that 656 is going to have the same gas motor or diesel that a 560 would have most likely.

From what I know of them they are good. My dad and I both have 560 Ds and have had good luck with them. My neighbor just burned a valve in his 656 gasser, it had about 4500 hrs on it though.

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